Alumni Story

On online studies being a good fit:

I tend to be very independent and like working alone, but I also had opportunities to work with group projects and get to know other people in my online classes.”

When Sarah was deciding where to attend college - with a view to playing soccer - she visited six campuses in two days. “Catawba was by far my favorite,” she says. She thought the campus looked charming, the people were friendly, and her potential teammates made her feel comfortable right away. Enrolling at Catawba, she became a busy student-athlete, avidly playing soccer. She loved studying at an outdoor table on Stanback Plaza and being able to see all her friends between classes.  Catawba’s small class sizes helped her learn better, she feels, and she liked being able to interact one-on-one with professors.

Unexpectedly, things changed for Sarah.

She tore everything in her knee.

“I realized it was time to come home and focus on healing.” She returned to Florida for surgeries and close medical monitoring; it was not her first-time having surgery on that knee.

It was a hard adjustment, feeling like she’d lost all the time and work she had put into college with only about a year left to go. “I felt like it was ripped from me, I didn’t know if I’d get that time back,” she recalls. In retrospect she thinks she, and college students in general, should try to stress less and enjoy their college experience more.

“Enjoy the time that you have when you’re at college!” she advises students, “When I had to leave I really wished I could go back. I took so much for granted.”

She was nervous she might have to transfer to finish her education, that it would cost more money, and that she would lose all her efforts so far. Someone - she doesn’t remember who - told her about the online program in General Studies. “I’m grateful to that person!” Sarah says. The General Studies major through Catawba Online saved the time she had already invested, saved money, and enabled her to do what she wanted most: graduate from Catawba College.

She appreciates faculty member Dr. Mike Wilson, describing him as “my biggest cheerleader” as she transitioned from residential student to online, hours away from campus, all while navigating the demands of healing her knee.

The online program provided the flexibility she needed to steer through a string of daily medical appointments.

She graduated in December 2022 and has been working on professional certificates in data science and cybersecurity. She is eyeing a master’s degree in information technology next, with a goal of working in cybersecurity.

Sarah stays in touch with her soccer teammates. Surgeries complete and knee improving, she has returned to campus a few times, most recently in October 2022. She didn’t get to have a Senior Night with her teammates, she explains. “Coach Brown invited me, I got to come back to Senior Night with my team last fall. That was really special.”